posted
I have a fairly bottom of the line television. It's about 5 years old, maybe 20-21 inches. I have no cable or rabbit ears - we only watch DVDs and the very occasional VHS tape on it. My daughter also plays a Nintendo game cube on it. It is absolutely adequate for my needs and I have no desire to replace it. I have a cheap DVD player, that also suits me, and a very old VHS VCR that at one time was the top of the line. We have a few old VHS tapes from years past that we watch maybe 2-3 times a year.
My problem is the sound of the TV. When we watch videos or play the game cube, the sound is fine. We keep it around 2-3 "bars" (of maybe 12-14 total) and can hear everything just fine. But when we watch DVDs (which is most of the time) we have to turn the volume up almost all the way to the top to hear the dialogue, and then we're almost overwhelmed by the soundtrack.
I'm hoping that there's an easy solution for this. Many years ago, my (now ex-) husband wired our TV/VCR etc through a stereo component and we had the sound of our nice speakers instead of the cr*ppy little TV speakers. I don't want to spend $$$$, but is it possible to buy a (okay this is where I have no idea what to even ask) a THING that I can route the audio of my DVD player through (and I looked, it doesn't have a separate audio output) to use external speakers and maybe get some better sound out of my system?
If there is such a THING, what is it called, and where's a good place to look for it?
posted
Keep in mind that I come from this from a low budget college (the PC does everything) point of view.
However, I am starting to get into this area and these are my observations.
What you need is called an "AV receiver" link which is just a fancy switching station for receiving audio and video from a variety of sources and then choosing which ones to relay to destinations such as external speakers, TVs, recording devices, etc.
You find these at typical home theatre places such as the department at Best Buy or Future Shop (at least in Canada...obviously the names may differ in your area).
So in the result, you will take the Gamecube, VHS, and DVD players and route their video and sound into it and then attach your TV and external speakers as destinations.
My only guess about why the dialogue and soundtrack are at so incredibly different volume levels is maybe you current setup is just splitting off just the left and right channel from a standard 5.1 DVD setup and then playing just those through your TV. Since the majority of the dialogue is normally in the centre speaker, it becomes very quiet. This is of course just a guess.
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
Okay, I just did a quick search at bestbuy and some of those are more expensive than my entire system as it stands. I hope I can find something a little more my speed.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Do you have a small stereo system? I'm not talking about anything fancy, just something you can play CDs on? If you do, does it have an AUX/Video setting? Does it have two little plugs in the back, one red and one white?
If you do, you're in luck. Just go to Radio Shack, buy yourself a RCA audio cable (about 6 feet should do), and run that from the back of the DVD player (Audio OUT) to the back of the stereo (Audio IN), turn on the stereo and switch it to AUX mode. You should be able to hear the movies much better.
Just use the stereo for movies from now on. Believe me, once you do you'll never want to use the TV's tinny speakers again.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
Check the menus of the DVD player, there may be an audio setting you can tweak that will help.
Primal, the DVD doesn't have a separate audio:"is it possible to buy a (okay this is where I have no idea what to even ask) a THING that I can route the audio of my DVD player through (and I looked, it doesn't have a separate audio output) ..."
edit:Sorry, Primal, you were correct. Ignore the following for using the VCR to split the audio from the signal, as I thing it's already split. /edit Does the VCR have a separate audio? If so, you could route the signal from the DVD player or video game console through the VCR and use it as a splitter. Then from the VCR send video to the TV and audio to an amp and then speakers. Pretty sure you can't go straight from the VCR to speakers, I've never tried that. I don't think you can.
If your budget is tight, try Craigslist, garage sales or thrift stores. Anything that will take audio from RCA cables and output to speakers will serve, and while not optimal will sound better than TV speakers.
posted
What cable(s) are you using to connect the DVD player to whatever its connected to? Is it connected directly to the tv, or is it through something?
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
I just connect the DVD to the TV with the cables that came with the unit. There are three connections - white, red and yellow. I pulled it out this weekend and looked and none of the outputs specified audio.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Generally red and white are audio and yellow is video. I thought it was coaxial cable you were using.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I told you I know next to nothing about this. So can I do like PC recommends above? If I can find a cheap stereo with RCA input?
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Yes. PC has the cheapest solution: a cheap stereo with RCA input. No worrys, you asked we try to help.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Double check the "audio setup" of your DVD player and make sure it's set to "stereo", NOT "surround" (5.1, digital Dolby, THX, etc. should all be OFF!)
Then try adding a simple stereo receiver/boombox per PC's suggestion.
The "THING" you may be thinking of is an audio/video (A/V) switch. You can find them at Radio Shack starting at about $15. They come in different flavors, some have RCA connectors, some coax connectors, some have both. Some are remotely controlled, some have two or three buttons on the front you select manually.
I have used one for years to feed my stereo from either the TV/VCR/DVD or from my CD changer.
Not the most hi-tech option on the market, but like your arrangement, it suites me just fine!
Posts: 692 | Registered: Feb 2000
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(they really didn't SAY audio) 
